This invention relates to the vertical take-off field of aviation.
There are many helicopters and gyrocopters in existence today. However, helicopters rely on variable pitch rotor blades to maintain control and provide vertical lift, while aircraft commonly referred to as gyrocopters are pushed in a forward direction on take-off due to the backward thrust of air caused by the propeller located to the rear of the engine assembly. The present invention discloses a form of vertical take-off aircraft that achieves vertical take-off by means of rotating blades, but does not require the pitches of rotor blades to be varied to maintain control, and provides a means for varying the distance between the main lifting rotor and the main body of the aircraft.
The present invention discloses a vertical take-off aircraft that overcomes the need for varying the pitch of rotor blades while at the same time allowing vertical lift on take-off and directional control by providing a vertical take-off aircraft using an main rotor assembly at the top of the aircraft, which main rotor assembly consists of an assembly of blades and a rotor.
Vertical lift is obtained by the rotation of the main rotor assembly thereby forcing air in a downward direction by way of the angle of pitch of the blades. Rotation of the main rotor assembly is achieved using an engine assembly located between the main body of the aircraft and the main rotor assembly, which engine assembly is the main engine assembly forming part of the aircraft, and which main engine assembly is connected to the main body of the aircraft by a tilt enabling joint. The tilt enabling joint consists of numerous components, some of which provide the means to support the main body of the aircraft below the main engine assembly and allow the tilt enabling joint to have a tilting ability while other components provide the means to control and cause tilting motions in the tilt enabling joint during flight, thereby enabling controlled tilting to occur, such that the main engine assembly and the main rotor assembly can be titled together as a unity relative to the main body of the aircraft in a controlled manner during flight, thereby providing a means for controlling the directional travel of the aircraft during flight and changing the aircaft""s direction of travel.
During flight, rotational stability of the main body of the aircraft is maintained by means of an additional engine assembly attached to the aircraft which rotates a secondary rotor assembly, thereby pushing air primarily in a horizontal direction to counter the rotational force exerted on the main body of the aircraft by the rotation of the upper main rotor assembly, which said secondary rotor assembly consists of an assembly of blades and a rotor.
The tilt enabling joint is connected to the main body of the aircraft by means that enable the distance between the tilt enabling joint and the main body of the aircraft to be varied.
In one form of the aircraft a plurality tubes are used to connect the tilt enabling joint to the main body of the aircraft. The tubes are of such relative sizes and assembled in such a manner that the tubes are able to function in a telescopic manner between the base of the tilt enabling joint and the main body of the aircraft.
By sealing the telescopic tube assembly to prevent air from entering and exiting the telescopic tube assembly and fitting a valve to the telescopic tube assembly that could allow air to enter and exit the telescopic assembly, the telescopic movement can be controlled.
The body of the aircraft suspended beneath the tilt enabling joint acts on the main rotor in a similar manner to that of a keel on a yaght. The greater the distance that the body of the aircraft is from the main rotor, the more stable the aircraft becomes, and the less sensitive is the aircraft to heavy cargo being stored away from the aircraft""s centre of gravity. Hence the aircraft""s sensitivity to cargo being stored away from its centre of gravity can be varied by varying the distance between the main body of the aircraft and the main rotor assembly.